I have been hired to research Waco Texas and find out if there are any active target sites in the area. I plan on visiting Waco the 2nd weekend of November with a handful of field researchers and would love to hear any stories that might exist or any new sites that might be active.

We are starting with the popular Linsey Hollow site and plan on branching out from there.

If you would like to meet up with us or know of any existing active areas in Waco, we would certainly appreciate it and cite you for any references you share with us.

It sounds like you've got a worthwhile and interesting project going there, and I'd be interested in knowing more about it. The reason being is that I grew up in Waco and would love to hear more about what you'll find there.

Unfortunately, most of the places I'm familiar with no longer exist, like my great-grandparent's house in Bellmead and the William Cameron house. The downtown area around Austin Ave. would be a great place to start. Over 140 people died there in a massive F5 tornado that swept through town in 1953.

Lindsey Hollow Road (aka "Horse Thief Gulch") is another good spot as it's had a reputation for being haunted for over a hundred years. Oakwood Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Waco's founders, so you might take a drive through there as well. Other places you could look into would be the Madison Cooper house next to the downtown public library and the Raleigh Hotel on Austin Ave. The possibilities are endless if you just ask around. Waco was once known as "Six Shooter Junction," so I'm sure you'll find more than your fair share of resident spooks floating around there.

If nothing else, the former owner of the house where I lived out on FM 1637 killed himself in the backyard, and my sisters will tell you he's still hanging around!

Another reference you might use is Roger Conger's A Pictorial History of Waco (ISBN 0872440265). While it doesn't have any ghost stories, it will give you an idea where to search if you're looking for areas that might potentially yield some paranormal activity.

Good luck!

Edited by earth_spirit, 18 September 2009 - 05:18 PM.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

No, Waco and I have a long standing agreement to stay as far away from each other as possible. I pass through there about every other year on my way to Georgetown to visit my mother, but that's about it. Most of my days now are spent on the Sunnyside peninsula of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho.

But it sounds like a great project you're working on, so I'd still like to hear more about it. I'll be sure to drop you a line!

~ES

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Also, for the benefit of anyone else following this post, the Armstrong-Browning library on the campus of Baylor University is also supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Elizabeth Barrett Browning keeping tabs on her worldly possessions.

While the starry-eyed romantic in me would like to imagine Elizabeth Barrett Browning wandering the halls of the library for eternity, there are some who say that the ghost in the building is actually that of a construction worker named Preacher Johnson who was killed during the construction of the building. Johnson's family sued the construction company he worked for, winning a sizable judgment in the process, but their lawyer absconded with the money. So now it's said that Preacher Johnson's ghost wanders the halls of the library seeking justice . . .

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Baylor University is actually a pretty hot place when it comes to the paranormal. A few other places I've heard about are the Marrs McLean gym (haunted by its benefactor, Mrs. Marrs McLean), the Fifth Street parking facility (haunted by phantom vehicles) and the Brooks dorm.

Supposedly, "spook central" on the campus is the Carroll library. Legend has it that its most famous spectral inhabitant is none other than Rufus Burleson, Baylor's president from 1886 to 1897.

You may also come across references to a place known as "The Witch's House" in Cameron Park, and I can tell you that it's probably bogus. I have a rather extensive family genealogy of the Cameron family (autographed by W.W. Cameron himself and given to one of his employees for Christmas in 1925) with pictures of the Cameron estate in what is now Cameron Park. From what I've read in the book, I suspect "The Witch's House" may be ruins of one of the family's houses on the estate, but according to the Waco Parks and Recreation Department, no such place exists.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Brian, I'll see if I can make a few inquiries on my own and will let you know if I come up with anything. The old Hippodrome Theater on Austin Ave comes to mind, so you might ask about that while you're there.

I have a small collection of books on Waco history and other historical documents, but they're all in storage at the moment while I'm renovating my house. I guess I'll have to start digging and see what I can find.

Also, I'd like to see you do some EVP recording at the grave of William Cowper Brann, the fiery editor of The Iconoclast, who was shot down by an assassin on Austin Ave in 1898. Brann's name is still invoked on a regular basis in Waco, especially by those associated with Baylor University. His grave at be found at Lot 19, block 9 of Oakwood Cemetery.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Glad you're coming my way! Waco's definitely got tons of history in it, so there are bound to be tons of ghosts to go with it. Here's a few of my picks to supplement the great ones you've already got:

Proctor Springs--This part of Cameron Park is immediately adjacent to Lindsey Hollow Road. When you're going down the road from Herring Avenue, the entrance will be on your right. There are lots of stories of that place being haunted, maybe because of its proximity to Lindsey Hollow Road.

A friend of mine who grew up here and is a paranormal enthusiast one of the creepiest parts of town is what she calls "the cul-de-sacs." It's three streets--Algonquin, Seneca, and Avondale Avenues--off of 18th Street that end in, well, cul-de-sacs, which is strange for a neighborhood of its age. It's definitely freaky down there at the ends of the streets at night, but I couldn't give you any specific house to look for.

City Hall--3rd & Austin. Look up the Waco Horror online; it's everywhere. A young black man named Jesse Washington was lynched and burned by a violent mob there in 1916 after he was accused (falsely) of murdering a farmer's wife in Robinson and drug out of the courthouse where he was on trial. The current city hall is not the one that was there at the time, but it's on the site of the old one.

Old Waco High School--8th & Columbus. My local enthusiast friend knows of spirits here, too, in the city's abandoned former high school.

Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame--In Fort Fisher Park, University Parks Drive & I-35. When the city started adding onto the museum, which was built in the 1960s, workers uncovered human remains. Turns out, the complex sits on top of the old 1st Street Cemetery and quite a few graves weren't moved, as people have always assumed they were 40 years ago. There are also lots of marked graves more towards University Parks Drive that are part of First Street Cemetery, plus there's a Jewish cemetery right next door.

You might also check with the Historic Waco Foundation. It owns and maintains several historic old homes around town. I'm sure some of the staff have stories.

Around the turn of the 20th Century there was a licensed Red Light District in Waco called "The Reservation." It was between Washington and Jefferson Avenues and 3rd Street and the Brazos River. It's mostly an empty field now. At 3rd & Jefferson is a mission-style Catholic church (not as old as it looks) and behind it, on Barron between 3rd and 4th is what used to be a convent. It's now apartments.

Just a few suggestions for interesting locales. Happy hunting! There's bound to be something just about anywhere you turn here.

Ooh! Just thought of another great one. It's maybe 40 or 45 minutes out, but I've always heard stories about this place. In the daytime, it's one of my favorite spots on earth. It's called the Old Rock Church, or St. Olaf's Lutheran Church. It's on FM 182 in Norse, between Clifton and Cranfills Gap. Make sure you go past the pretty red brick one that's still being used every Sunday and go on out to the big whitewashed one out in a field.

It was founded in the late 19th Century by Norwegian settlers, many of whom are buried in the adjacent cemetery. The story goes that, if this certain hymn is played on the old organ in the rear gallery, the spirits of the old settlers rise up out of the cemetery, come in to the church, and join in the singing. I worked with a guy who grew up in Meridian, which is nearby, and he and some friends actually gave it a try. They high-tailed it when they saw mist coming up out of that graveyard!

You'll definitely want to check with whoever's in charge of the place. I believe the St. Olaf's Lutheran congregation, which is in Cranfills Gap proper now, takes care of it. I know the groundskeeper runs nighttime trespassers off with a shotgun!

Thanks for providing the information about the Old Rock Church, Wacoish! I ate a lifetime's worth of lutefisk there one evening. You see, my ex-wife's family is from "The Gap," and they lived in a little limestone farmhouse there on FM 182 about half way between Clifton and Cranfill's Gap. In fact, her grandparents are both buried there in the cemetery at St. Olaf's.

The only time I was there alone was to spread some dirt from Norway on the ex's grandfather's grave, so I can't verify your friend's story about the ghostly members of the congregation, but I'd sure like to know what hymn it is that you have to play!

I'd could find out who's the caretaker at the Rock Church, but that would involve a phone call to my ex-mother-in-law. Sorry

You might try calling the Lutheran church there in Clifton for additional information. If memory serves me, they only hold services there twice a month, and one of the local pastors handles the services.

Good luck!

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

I just wanted to thank you all for your help. We begin our journey into the stories behind Waco and its activity in 2 weeks and are always interested in working with other people if you are at all interested.

If you want more information, please email me at brian@emania-research.com .

I got the same impression when I visited Baylor. The basement natural history museum had 'a feeling' about it. It wasn't scary, or creepy, but it felt like 'something' was there.

Baylor University is actually a pretty hot place when it comes to the paranormal. A few other places I've heard about are the Marrs McLean gym (haunted by its benefactor, Mrs. Marrs McLean), the Fifth Street parking facility (haunted by phantom vehicles) and the Brooks dorm.

Supposedly, "spook central" on the campus is the Carroll library. Legend has it that its most famous spectral inhabitant is none other than Rufus Burleson, Baylor's president from 1886 to 1897.

You may also come across references to a place known as "The Witch's House" in Cameron Park, and I can tell you that it's probably bogus. I have a rather extensive family genealogy of the Cameron family (autographed by W.W. Cameron himself and given to one of his employees for Christmas in 1925) with pictures of the Cameron estate in what is now Cameron Park. From what I've read in the book, I suspect "The Witch's House" may be ruins of one of the family's houses on the estate, but according to the Waco Parks and Recreation Department, no such place exists.